I'm now posting primarily - and even more inconsistently here:
Birch and Mapleand
The Liminal UniverseOro out
[...]I'm now posting primarily - and even more inconsistently here:
Birch and Mapleand
The Liminal UniverseOro out
[...]~*~
Also, I'm still working on the other website, but will (hopefully) be posting over there full time come November 1.
~*~
TheBeardedLady, my pic is of a member of the Ouled Nail, an Algerian tribal hillswoman who went to the big city to earn [...]
So I'm ordering books related to infertility and such and have the feeling I'm forgetting some titles. Here's what I've ordered so far:
Navigating the Land of If by Mel (duh!)
Two Is Enough: Guide for Couples Without Children
It Sucked & Then I Cried - Dooce (avail. in pb in March in [...]
I'm moving because I can't afford Typepad anymore. Please point your browsers to:
And now, the Video of Awesomeness (sfw)(unless you work for FOX News, Rush Limbaugh, etc) found via Shakesville, who also have a transcript):
If you have a moment or two to spare, a candle or incense to light, I would greatly appreciate any good thoughts and prayers for my friend, whose 11 year old son, recently diagnosed with and treated for stage 4 Hodgekins Lymphoma, has been rediagnosed with it again after being [...]
One of the 'joys' of working in retail is watching how parents treat their children. I've seen angry parents, annoyed parents, hippie parents, unreasonably strict parents, parents who don't know how to be parents (oddly enough, these were almost all, without exception, women in their mid 30s), rasta parents, parents [...]
Dearest John Stewart -
Dude, seriously, enough with the fat jokes. Honest, they're not funny.
Yours,
A fan
~*~
Dear Ricky Gervais -
The Office is awesome. Your standup, however? Not so much. Again, enough of the fat jokes.
Yours,
Whatever
~*~
Dear Customers -
I have eyes. That means that if it's raining out and [...]
For the love of avocados, do not read Jodi Picoult's Handle With Care.
Seriously.
Don't do it.
Just...don't.
Oro, getting off the blog before the bosses come in to check the busted back door and display window - due to the wankers who have nothing better [...]
Because they help me decide whether or not to follow a blog.
Recently I've deleted a couple of blogs from my feeds, for various reasons. One big reason is of new pregnancies, and I'm sorry, I just can't follow some of you. What is it that makes some secondary pregnancies easier [...]
I am sick. Sick enough to warrant a visit to the doctor because of the following
ringing in the ears light headedness difficulty breathing/shortness of breath constant sweating but no fever difficulty sleeping lack of interest in eating I'm hoping I can get another one of those low-dose inhalers like I got last spring. Didn't use it [...]Dear Dumb Crack At The Cross Walk -
Don't be an ass by doing these when the light is green (because that's when the cars go):
pushing your stroller into the road not looking to see if there is a car making a turn then stopping (in the middle of the crosswalk) to [...]The latest " woman held for x amount of years by wacko couple" story reminded me of a fanfic I wrote a few years back, which I'm going to post below. This is not the best written story, but honestly, I just can't work on it any [...]
Well, lookie here:
Even More! Garden porn, mostly of my Casa Blanca lilies. I wish I could have 'Net N Sniff, because the scent is astounding, clove and honey and a bit of orchid, a touch of narcissus. Alas, there is no odor when they' [...]Yesterday I stopped at a local farmstand to go berry picking. They're a well-known family in the folk world, living just a couple of miles from me. They grow veggies and fruits, and this year the blueberries and raspberries have been super succulent. I picked 2lbs of blueberries in about [...]
I've been watching this show on the Beeb called Heir Hunters, about a company that goes around finding heirs of deceased people - for a small fee, of course.
In any case, what I've found really striking is how many people die without children. I mean, large families of 4, 5, [...]
The strap on my new purse broke.
I know.
The end detached from the inner bit between pockets. And the worst part? It's not even sewn in! The feckin' thing was glued in...for this I paid $100?? So I called the store where I bought it from and they were all like, [...]
Butterfly Bush - Nanho Purple
Weed - Indian Paintbrush. Like a mini sunflower, opens when the sun is out and turns with it.
The first bloom of the peony, Festiva Maxima, I planted 2 years ago:
Weed - [...]
Sexism in America - wherein a priveledged middle class white lady discovers that there's still -gasp - sexism everywhere! I can't tell you how much this book pissed me off. Seriously, did she grow up in a box? If you want to talk about sexism and Feminism and Womanism, [...]
My friend and teacher, Claire Oglesby, died Tuesday. She was a brilliant woman and will be sorely missed
[...]So Im watching this show on the Beeb called the Death of Respect, wherein an old, white male journalist talks to other white old males about how Britain is going down the toilet because women aren't in the home takin' care of the babies and the husbands, and how men [...]
Dear America -
W.T.F.
?
Yours,
Mightily Irritated
PS: YOU GOT THE WRONG GIRL. (who was not in the bottom this week, imo)
[...]So, here's what I spent all that money on There are 4 inner pockets that aren't visibl, including one which zippers and is large enough for a mass market paperback. The strap is perfect, long enough for the purse to hit right below the hip when worn crosswise, and it [...]
I bought a new purse.
It cost $100 bucks.
And it was on sale.
~ hands head in shame ~
Oro, who genuinely did need a new purse
[...]I've been busy. I'm trying to keep up with the blogs but am falling further and further behind. I'm nearly up to 2000 unread messages in my email - so if you haven't heard from me, it's going to be a while longer. I'm having some back problems, and some [...]
I took Mr Oro to MacLaomainn's Scottish Pub the other day, which he greatly enjoyed even though they were out of haggis (and judging by the disappointed looks on the faces of the other patrons as they came in, it must be good haggis). He had a couple of [...]
Yet another bullet point post (so boring, I know)(but I have to eat, dress, and leave for work in little under an hour, so forgive me if you will)of things I am watching thanks to Hulu, PBS, BBC, and, er, torrent:
I am, once again, hooked on So You Think You [...]Here are a few things that Ive mostly finished. More or less.
Finding Nouf - excellent mystery based in Saudi Arabia. Good for folks who don't care for violent scenes (Donna Leon is also good for that lack, I understand) or any gore. And for the one star reviewer who [...]
Oh lookee, it's the famous bullet point list:
working chilling with the Chieftain figuring out what kind of wood stove to buy, cast iron or soapstone gardening - I can't stop buying plants when they're half-dead and on sale! working catching the odd bit of sleep reading books for work re-building the website for work dance practice dance [...]Available at all good bookstores as of TODAY.
Also, book 2 will be available in October.
Available in paperback - trade & mass market:
Girl With The Dragon Tattoo - June 6
My Stroke Of Insight - today (video available on YT and TED)
[...]
Holy moly, if you haven't seen Glee on Hulu, you need to watch it. Immediately. It's High School Musical: Bitter Reality!. The pilot's only available for the next 3 weeks though. Added bonus, possible infertility pregnancy announcement. You don't need to register in order to watch.
~*~
Things I have planted [...]
Yes, Our Own Creation sent me the goodies! Now, I don't know if you all know this about me, but when I signed up for OMGYR! I totally kinda forgot I would be getting something. Really, I thought, Cool, I can send somebody some neat stuff!
So I was pretty [...]
It's OMG! You Rock! day, and I have to do this really really quick but will write more later, for now, piccies!
Hee!!
Oro out [...]
And, since I work in a bookstore...ta-da!
Note the other near titles: Natural Fertility, After Miscarriage, Fertility Journal, Ultimate PCOS Handbook...see how they're not FACE OUT? I almost put it in the front window but figured nervous folks might not' [...]
Do you like documentaries? I do, too, and here at Snag Films you can watch them for free!
Definitive list of things you should have seen on the Internet.
Are you tired of life?
....and I have to go.
But first, dear Weather, on Wednesday and Thursday it snowed, yesterday [...]
Since I no longer have tv, I've been going to YT and clicking on random links. Here are today's picks, mostly from the final of Britain's Got Talent 2008:
13 year old David Johnston, from Carlisle, England (or as Mr Oro puts it, Scots with their brains kicked out)(he says that [...]
Me, I'm thinking the latter...
[...]The Small Carpet Of Flying Miracles
Hala Jaber
$24.95 June 2009 Penguin
Oy. Hala Jaber, an infertile Lebanese journalist married to an Englishman and living in London, is sent to Iraq to find a 'good orphan'. What she finds, instead, is the story of two girls, 3 years and 2 months, whose entire immediate family [...]
So I was at Wally World the other day and walked past a teen holding a very cute, 1-2 month old baby boy on her arm.
Her forearm. As if her were a sloth hanging on a branch.
And as she stood there in between the snack aisle and the misses [...]
A close friend's 10 year old son has just been diagnosed with lymphoma - we'll know specifics later today - and i need advice on how to support her, because honestly, I have no idea what the fuck to say. He lives with his dad and step-mom in another state, [...]
What to do, what to do.
I could:
Clean
fold laundry on living room floor
sweep living room floor
clean kitchen
pee
fold laundry currentlyin dryer
clean bathroom
sweep bedroom floor
sweep bathroom floor
find and put bills away
do dance drills for Tuesday class
blog
look at ebay
dust something somewhere
[...]
So it's been a year now and I really get the pain of secondary infertility. Before I had the Chieftain I sometimes entertained the thought that I could be happy with 'just one'.
But I won't be.
I've reached the conclusion that there will be one more (hopefully two more, but [...]
It's like this; in the past couple of weeks not only have there been a plethora (okay, 2) babies born, but I've had about 5 drive-by pregnancy announcements and I guess they just got to me this morning. Coupled with what I've realized is actually a consistent spring-time, end of [...]
Today, like all the other days, I got up, took a shower.
I will make breakfast and dinner.
I will do laundry and tidy the house.
I will go to the post office and mail the credit card company's fraud claim paperwork.
I will go to work, collect my check, deposit it at the [...]
So that means the diet talk has ramped up to the extreme. Cue Oro keeping her stinkin' trap shut while women - oh please, you know it's always women - who generally weigh about 150lbs soaking wet talk about how fat they are an how difficult it is to find [...]
When depression hits.
It's been, oh a couple of days since I've felt so out of sorts. Just seems like there's no time for me to do anythingn but what other people want, and when I do that, it's wrong.n
And i have no time for this post.
Ah, the irony.
Oro
Btw: the differences [...]
Dear Other Drivers,
I feel the need to point out a few things, namely:
when the lane you're in widens and the driver behind you puts on their left turn signal, this means they want to pass you speeding up when they pass you on the right makes you an ass When it's dark [...]So I was watching Lost this morning and one character says to another "I'm a fertility doctor - I'm not used to death"
O rly?
* * *
I just discovered Jim Gaffigan on Shakesville and cannot stop laughing. Also? You'll be singing the jingle everywhere, at anything. I actually spewed wine [...]
So, here it is, for those who want to know:
5/07 - started the Pill - sorry, didn't write down the date!
5/28/07 - Lupron 5u
6/2/07 - off pill
6/6 - baseline us, reduce Lupron to 2.5u, 3 vials each Bravelle & Menopur
6/15 - celebrated 39th birthday with blood test and ultrasound, yay
6/18 [...]
Dear Customer -
When asking a book to be gift-wrapped, it is not
appropriate to stand next to the clerk and stare. This
makes the clerk nervous, and Bad Things Can Happen.
Let's just say there's a reason why your wrapped book
will be whipped into a bag as [...]
...having to watch the Inauguration on FOX News...thanks, HULU.
CSPAN, o CSPAN, why is your net feed so crappy?
...that after spending almost 2 weeks at my mother's house, she had a problem with her furnace that could have left all of us rather dead, so we spent 2 nights, including NewYear's, at the local Super8 Motel?
No?
Yeah. The moral of the story is that when [...]
What you can't hear from my previous post was the cracking, the snapping, the breaking of branches and tree tops, the crashes of trees falling over from the weight of the ice. You also can't hear the tinkling, as if someone was shaking a little handful of chimes or bells. [...]

The big trees are my neighbors old Sugar Maples
Neighbor
The barn
We stopped and took pictures of the main road into town - after [...]
But I've decided to post instead. By bulleted list, because I really do need to sleep and it's going to be a good hour before then and I'm up early in the A to the M.
By which I mean, so much for having high-speed Internet making me blog more often. I can't believe it's been over month. For what it's worth, I'm posting on TLU only slightly more frequently.
Nothing much new to report, to be honest. My money troubles worsen, alas, even though Mr Oro [...]
Anyone watching this right now? How is it that a major company giving away free food for a year isn't a national disgrace? I mean, it's a good thing and all, but come on, in 2008? In America?
WTF people.
W.
T.
F.
Yeah, parenting, children, secondary vs primary infertility, work, hell, even politics are mentioned in this post.
It's been awhile. Not for lack of interest, so much as, er, lack of sleep. I've been choosing sleep over the Internet. Ye gods, what has the world come to?! I've missed you, [...]
Boo for taxes. I figured I'd have about $230 a week take home pay, but no. Here's the breakdown, half remembered because I lost the sheet of paper I'd listed the details on:
25 hours per week @ $10.50 an hour: $262.50 gross
-$.0765% Fed (I think?): $20.09
[...]
Yes, no Food Stamps pour moi.
Why? Because we filed taxes jointly, so even though I had no income last year (and currently earn $500 a month), because Mr Oro has some savings I am not eligible.
I have $.87 in my checking acount until next Monday.
[...]
Ha, trotted over to Lisa's blog (why, hello there!) and saw she'd linked to the 2008 winners of the Bulwer-Lytton contest.
Ye gods.
It Was A Dark And Stormy Night...
...my brain is 'splodey.
~*~
On the job front, I'll be working at the [...]
Or something along those lines, that's what one of the gold-medalling women on the US Beach Volleyball team said immediately after the match.
Live.
On the 'beach'.
As in, Yay, gold medal! And now that we've won it, our next goal is to go make babies!
[...]
And now, for something completelydifferent, from the Very Good Taste blog:
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional [...]
Have you ever wondered if your cashier is looking at the food your buying and thinking to themselves, Seriously?
Maybe it's just me. In any case, now that I am a cashier, I can definitely tell you that yes, we are thinking to ourselves, I Can't Believe Someone's Buying [...]
Dear NBC,
Thanks for running that 'Having a Baby
Changes Everything' ad but a moment ago.
I think we knew that.
Yours, (still) Bitter Infertile
First of all, wtf is up with Bloglines tonight? I mean, jeez, I don't have high-speed internet, the one thing I can rely on is reading my blogs every night, y'know? On the plus size, looks like Fairpoint is investing in the area for either fiber optic or dsl, and [...]
I've been meaning to post for ages, honest. And since I had the week off due to a back injury - in my sleep, of course - there certainly was plenty of time.
Anyhoo, the short version of Life Since I Lasted Posted is thus:
Yes, it's another one, this time from TTC@ Infertility Bites:
Here’s how it works:
1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline (or mark in a different color) the books you LOVE
[...]
Possibly. I shall blog and run.
~*~
Mr Oro, despite me telling him repeatedly not to, has 'fixed' the vintage hutch by glueing the foot back on. Which means that it'll be even more expensive to fix, so that's not going to happen unless the foot comes off [...]
I was going to write a no-doubt fascinating post about life, but it looks like I've missed my chance.
Mr Oro is still alive.
Barely.
O out
Because when your spouse, angry at you for waking him out of his 9 hour slumber, tries to move an antique desk/hutch that two friends have brought out of the barn and left in the yard for you to clean later on, when he tries to move it by himself [...]
After the Bear I thought I was prepared for pretty much any visitor, but this morning's houseguest seriously freaked me out for a little while, and scared the Chieftain.
I was in the kitchen while he was on the floor in the living room, chilling while I made some [...]
After the Bear I thought I was prepared for pretty much any visitor, but this morning's houseguest seriously freaked me out for a little while, and scared the Chieftain.
I was in the kitchen while he was on the floor in the living room, chilling while I made some [...]
First of all, congratulations, Nicole and Keith! (normally I wouldn't be so gung ho on celebrities having kids, but we all know Nicole has issues, and I'm happy for them both on the birth of their daughter)(even if she is named Sunday)
I got my credit card bill [...]
ETA: Well, it's Tuesday after and I've had to take the day off from work due to, you might say, needful prayer to the Porcelain God. I have no idea what's wrong with me, but I hope it doesn't last through tomorrow...
On Thursday I spent 2 hours as [...]
Day three and I am still in training at my cashier's job for an International Supermarket Chain. I think I've racked up close to 8 hours on the pc, watching informational videos and taking tests - which the supervisors have to sign off on! - and bagging at the end [...]
Anyone catch this (besides DD) the other night? The premise is that teen couples who think they're 'ready' to have babies get to borrow infants, toddlers, teens, and grandparents, for three days each, to see how well they'll cope.
It was frightening.
And funny.
I sure felt [...]
...just checking out Scribefire...nothing to see here...move along...
ETA: the editor popped up tonight, but I'm still irritated, so I'm not changing anything.
Seriously, is it because I'm on dialup? You're new text editor takes forever to download, you've re-arranged stuff so that I have to find a new theme, you're not posting some posts or posts in their [...]